I fished the Skookumchuck for the second time this season on Saturday morning, still in pursuit of my first "real" Steelhead for 2015. After becoming somewhat convinced over the past two months that my new Seahawks hat was bad luck, as well as one of the two knifes that I take with me fishing, I decided to bring both along today and see if I couldn't exorcise those demons of mine. It proved to be a good decision, because that hat and that knife where badly in need of some redemption.

I got to the parking lot by the red gate just a bit before sunup and was to my starting hole for the day shortly after it was light enough to do everything I needed to do without the aid of my headlamp. As I got my drift rod ready, I looked across the river to the hole I had selected as my first target for the morning, and I was greeted with a wonderful sight; two ghostly steelhead shimmered into view from out of the cloudy depths, and I my excitement immediately began to rise. My first offering was a single size 12 white glow corky, to which I feel the fish may have had some attraction, but perhaps not enough to completely commit. By this point I could tell by the amount of fish activity (fish rising and sinking, running upstream, running downstream, even a single roller) that there were probably at least half a dozen sitting in the hole. As I drifted through I could see them move along with my line, sometimes it looked as if they wanted no part of my offering, and other times it was very clear that they were following it.

Deciding that this setup wasn't the key, I downsized my leader to 8# and my hook to a size 1, put on a single size 12 pearl pink corky along with some shrimp oil, and got back to drifting. The fish were definitely interested in this setup, and before long I felt that slight pulse of a fish accepting my offering. I set the hook, and immediately a bright chrome slab rocketed from the depths, broke the surface, and then took of downstream with a vengeance. I feel fully confident that I could have had that fish on the bank, unfortunately, as it booked it downstream my line got tangled with another angler's, and in his ensuing attempts to cut his line away, he cut mine as well. I would like to give him the benefit of the doubt that he didn't mean to do it, but seeing as he didn't say a single word to me, I will never know. It seemed that my bad luck was back, and with a vengeance.

I retied that same setup, but by this point the light had come up enough that the fish were clearly starting to get spooked, or had moved on, and I was never able to hook into another one in that hole despite many things tried. Eventually I abandoned that particular spot, working my way back downriver to my car and what I hoped would be a more successful afternoon in the fields.

After a quick lunch I headed out into the fields, fishing my way down the river to a spot that has produced for me in the past. As I rounded the corner to my intended location, fate would have it that two anglers had positioned themselves at the top of the run in an inflatable boat (first time I have seen that on the Skook) and appeared to be backtrolling through my intended run. Obviously I was going to need to rethink my strategy. As I stood there contemplating, I looked across the river at a spot I have passed by numerous times without a second thought, only to see this time that with the current water flow there was a perfect slot formed on the far bank, almost an under cut ledge; more beautiful small river bobber and jig water would be hard to come by.

Deciding to take full advantage of this newfound piece of prime steelhead real estate, I tied on an 1/8oz Nightmare jig that I had tied the night before, and began working my bobber right up against the ledge, adjusting my depth as I went in order to find the bottom of the hole. After finding the ideal depth, I continued fishing without any luck and was getting ready to move on, when my bobber lazily slid under the surface right at the end of the drift. From the way it went down it looked like a snag, but this was most definitely no snag. I set the hook and immediately this new aquatic contender darted downstream in the direction of an overhanging log jam. However, this fish was to prove to be the redemption for my unlucky fishing gear, and I was able to get it back into the center of the pool where I played it out, got a hold of it, and carried it safely ashore. And what a fish it was too, a beautiful hatchery hen, coming in at about 11.25# and just shy of 33", which officially put it just a hair over my previous personal best steelhead.

I had broken my curses, landed my personal best steelhead, and nailed my first fish on my own tied jig after a long day on the river that started out with some much promise and so much disappointment. These are the types of fishing trips that you remember.

On a side note, after landing that fish I moved to a slot just downstream and while drifting a single 8mm rose colored bead, I had a vicious take from what turned out to be a little trout, about 9" long. As I got it close to me, I could clearly see that it did not look like a Cutthroat or a resident Rainbow, its adipose was still intact, and everything about it screamed "wild steelhead smolt." Just curious, has anyone caught resident Rainbows out of the Skook? This thing was very silvery, with fairly large spots (as compared to a normal Rainbow) and not a touch of pink, but definitely in the shape of a trout, not a salmon smolt.

Caught two huge hogs below the dam up river on my fly rod. Dead drifting anything that is the color of pink was the method of success for the day. You can make out all the fish in the water schooling up. Noticed a few nice greasy silvers as well in deep holes. Might be worth is to check out before they are all spawned out.

wanted to get out and fish on my birthday and thats just what I did. Conditions were not ideal but went for it anyway. Fought the snow, and high colored up water and scratched out a birthday salmon. Let it go after a quick pic unharmed. I have been using kodiak spinners the last few times fishing and i love them! If it is in their face, they will bite it. Heard of one other fish caught and released. Not sure if there is any chrome in there. Plenty of dark ones though.

Went out for one of our last trips out to the Chuck this season. Got to the river around 9 PM fished jigs with shrimp down stream from the salmon hatchery in all those holes with not much success. Ended there around noon. Didn't have the energy to walk the fields so we headed up past the gate and found a nice slot with fish and I ended the day going 7 -2 up there on white or pink beads (A couple random ones are pictured here). Fish were aggressive taking the beads deep all fish were caught and released. Two natives and five hatchery fish to the bank total had to work for them but did alright. Lost 2 fish that went 15+ . Wasn't the best day, the fish are getting old but no mold on any of the fish i tangled with. It was worth the drive. Left the river around 4:30 PM.Tight lines, get you some!

Arrived around 7:30 at the hole with the big rock cliff area. Nothing biting so we moved up by the hatchery. Worked our way up to the deadline with no action but tons of river otters spooking the steelhead. Fished a slot of water right above the bend hole and had a nice one on about 20 minutes into fishing the slot but I lost it. Later same thing happen. While I was there, a huge chrome steelhead taunted all of us by jumping not once but twice. After about 2 hours their we moved back down and we saw one guy hook up and landed a nice chromer plus he already had one on the bank, nice limit. We saw another guy with one but thats it. At last we hit the fields with no luck. I had a great day and always fun exploring a new river for the first time and definitely coming back, and with my waders fixed without a leak! Tight Lines!!!!!

Started the morning fishing the Cowlitz by the Blue Creek launch, but after no luck there we packed up and moved to the Skookumchuck. Started fishing there about 11:30am up at the corner hole. The two friends I was with mainly drifted corkies and yarn in the faster water. I started out floating a jig in the slower sections, then moved to chucking a plug into the tailout, then wound up with corkies also. We were all using the standard orange, pink, black, red, white type combinations. There were a good amount of fish rolling, but they didn't seem to be in much a of a biting mood. After fishing that spot for about 2 hours my friends called it a day and left while I headed down into the fields. I started up high and worked my way down, again using jigs and drifted presentations both. Saw one ~7lb fish jump about four or five times in a row at one spot, but that was it as far as action for me down there. So, no fish, but still got to see new territory along the river. Next time....

Headed down to the river early this morning...2nd time to this river. Took a break and picked up a 4 big nests of line along the bank and a grocery bag full of garbage. Was nice to bank on the effort w/hooks and swivels.

Fished till mid afternoon with a nice hook up on a bright one punch 30 incher! She went into the swift water then she put her head down luckily I was successful in pulling her out and to the bank to see that the adipose was missing! Woot! Caught on a pink/white corky that I had found along the bank :) hee hee

Hard to write on your catch card when you are shaking ha...and writing it under salmon before you realize itReally nice to meet new folks out there with helpful suggestions.

Made it to the red gate parking area around 6:30 this morning. Not too crowded, but was getting busy by 8 or so. Started just below the red gate fishing seams and holes. Saw fish moving through the area; flopping, jumping and swimming. Started out using corky and yarn with shrimp oil. Had no luck up high so we decided to move down to the field parking area and walked in about a half mile.

Kept with corky and yarn for most of the area till I pitched it in the trees. Changed it up to a chrome Little Cleo and picked up an 8 incher. 4 casts later hooked into a nice 22" metalhead. Didn't seem to put up much of a fight, but we landed and bonked the hatchery fish.

Went back up to the red gate with our spoons and gave it another go for about and hour and a half, but by that time fishing seemed to slow down. Saw a lot of fish pulled out today and had some great conversations with fellow fishers. Water was pretty slow and low.

Fished the Skookumchuck from about 12:30 to 5:30 or so in the evening. Tried numerous spots down in the fields, mostly bobber and jig, but I also drifted some corkies and yarn where the current was a bit faster. Used shrimp oil almost the entire day as well. Focused mainly on pink/white/nightmare jigs, as well as pink corkies and black yarn. I had some bobber downs that looked good, but nothing was on the other end when I set the hook....except for a Whitefish at one point. Still a nice day though, and I got to check out some new spots down in the fields. Don't know how it was up top.

Went down to the Skookumchuck River yesterday afternoon with my buddy Robb. It was a beautiful sunny day with some high scattered clouds. The water was pretty murky from the previous rain. Over all the fishing was pretty slow; however, I did better than most around us (2/3). Since my friend had never been to the Skookumchuck I took him to the red gate. We drift fished single pink corkies. I hit a fish on my third cast. Feisty little hen went airborne after about twenty seconds and spit the hook. About twenty minutes later I hooked and landed a nice fat buck with a little color (approx. 8-10 lbs). He put up a good fight. We fished there for about 45 minutes after that. My buddy had a couple bumps but no hook-ups. We moved to another spot a few hundred yards up river. Snagged a low hanging branch and lost my corky after a few casts. Changed up and put on an orange, pink and green corky. Hit a nice big double punch hen on my second or third cast (approx. 12-15 lbs). She put up a good fight. Made a couple of epic runs. After she tired out my buddy had a hard time trying to net her because my net wasn't big enough! LOL! Thankfully, another guy with a bigger net came over to help and netted it for us. My buddy fished for another hour, unfortunately he didn't hook-up. Only saw four or five other fish caught while we were there, so I feel pretty lucky to have limited. The only way it could have been a better day would have been if my buddy hooked up too. Maybe next time. Tight lines...

Clicking on a HotSpot will
reveal the GPS coordinates and any available comments. Some HotSpots might not be
visible in the initial map view. Feel free to drag the map around or change the
zoom level and/or map type to suit your needs.